GREENVILLE, S.C. (August 18, 2006) - With nine injured players, the ETSU women's soccer team fell to the Furman Paladins in a grueling 4-0 exhibition match Friday afternoon. This will be the only exhibition contest for the Bucs.

In the first half both teams battled for the early lead, as the shot count stayed fairly even. ETSU had three first half shots and Furman had six, but it was a penalty kick from Furman's Katie Tucker at the 28:53 mark, that gave the Paladins a 1-0 lead.

The Bucs battled back as senior Emily Fulcher (New Bern, N.C.), who stepped in at the goalkeeper position, made three first-half saves to head into halftime down by one.

During the second half, the Bucs continued to fight, but the Paladins would score three more times to blank ETSU.

With goalkeepers Erin Bilyeu (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and newcomer Megan Masch (Virginia Beach, Va.) sidelined with injuries, Fulcher and freshman Lindsay Metcalf (Mars Hill, N.C.) were moved from their traditional positions to help keep for the Bucs.

‘I'm really proud of the maturity and discipline our team showed today," said head coach Heather Henson. "With our nine injuries we were able to use today's match as a training mechanism. Furman is a very good team and they capitalized on our mistakes, but I'm proud of the way we came out and fought today."

The Buccaneers will officially open there season Friday, August 25 as they travel to Oxford to take on the Ole Miss Rebels for a 7 p.m. match up.